Kanhaiya does damage control, says will fight every 'massacre'

Under fire over his comments on 1984 anti-Sikh riots Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar appeared to be in a damage control mode on Wednesday and said he will fight against every massacre.

"We will fight against massacres may it be Bathani Tola massacre, or 1984 riots or the 2002 riots. We will together fight for their closures and we will make sure that the closure is in favour of justice and in favour of society," he said while addressing a protest gathering at Jantar Mantar.

"Government wants to tire us in our struggles. But, they should keep in mind that neither is their exploitation new, nor is our struggle new. You have not tired exploiting us and we will also not tire in our struggle," he added.

Kanhaiya attracted criticism over his remarks earlier this week that 1984 anti-Sikh riot was a "mob-led massacre" while 2002 Gujarat riots were a "state sponsored violence."

His comments did not go down well even with those who have been his zealous supporters ever since he was arrested in a sedition case over an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

While he was under attack for giving a "clean chit" to Congress for the 1984 pogrom, Kanhaiya maintained that he was being "misinterpreted".